John MatthiaS & Nick Ryan
Inspired by a mutual interest in neuroscience and physics, that same busy year they composed and recorded the project Cortical Songs, on Nonclassical, to critical acclaim. This four movement piece for String Ensemble (performed by Trinity College of Music String Ensemble) takes its musical directions from new software they devised imitating the patterns of neuronal triggerings of the brain, with the album boasting remixes by Thom Yorke and Simon Tong, among others.
John Matthias is a musician, composer and physicist who has worked with such colossi as Radiohead, Coldcut, and Matthew Herbert. Nick Ryan is a composer and sound artist whose work explores novel approaches to generating and experiencing audio often involving technology and interactivity. Together, their diverse interests have provided the bases for several groundbreaking collaborations, including The Fragmented Orchestra, a project that won the PRS Foundation’s prestigious New Music Award in 2008, and the Prix Ars Electronica in 2009.